Judge Mutava met Portland directors before orders – lawyer Ngatia

Inspector David Cheruiyot at the tribunal investigating suspended judge Joseph Mutava on Tuesday / JACK OWUOR

Senior counsel yesterday said judge Joseph Mutava, who is being investigated by a tribunal, met with directors of the East African Portland Cement Company before issuing orders.

Lawyer Fred Ngatia said trouble in the cement company started when the board wanted to make purchases in excess of Sh1 billion without following the Public Procurement and
Disposal Act, which the minister pointed out.

Ngatia said after Mutava met with the directors, former Industrialisation minister Amason Kingi got wind of the meeting and was infuriated. He said the minister wondered how a judge supposed to be neutral could meet with a board that did not want to follow procurement procedure. Ngatia accused Mutava of being a serial liar during the case by issuing orders contrary to other judges’, which threw the company into a management mess in 2011.

He testified before the tribunal at the KICC, Nairobi, headed by justice David Maranga of the Court of Appeal. Ngatia said Kingi wanted to seek audience with the Chief Justice, Evan Gicheru, but he prevailed upon him not to do so. “The minister told me the National Intelligence Service sighted all the board members of the EAPCC in a meeting in Karen with the judge and felt he had been influenced,” Ngatia, who has been in practice for 30 years, said. He said though they did not seek audience with Gicheru, he feels he owes Kingi an apology because of the way Mutava handled the case after the alleged meeting.

“The judge used his high office to advance illegal processes. A judge who ought to stand for the truth did not do so by disregarding my affidavit and submissions,” Ngatia said. He said it is unethical for a judicial officer to do such a thing as he created a foundation for an imaginary case against his affidavit. The tribunal resumes on July 4.